Injuring your knee is usually very painful. As an area of the body that’s prone to injury, you can get anything ranging from some straightforward muscular swelling like a pulled muscle or a stretched ligament to the agony of a torn or ruptured ligament leaving you unable to walk properly for a long time, and even needing surgery.
The problem is that it is too easy to twist your knee to such an extent where you end up rupturing ligaments and needing reconstructive surgery.
A torn ligament may not be so bad, and can be repaired surgically but may be prone to tearing again and will leave you in a lot of pain for some time – but if the whole ligament ruptures, you will likely need a hamstring or patella graft (or similar) where pieces of the hamstring or patellar tendon are taken and fitted in the place of the ruptured ligament (hence the term ‘reconstruction’)
So if you’re reading this blog, you may be thinking “yes, yes, I know all this – just tell me how much it’s worth!” The reason I’m explaining this is to let you know that it’s not that easy just to give you a figure as to how much your claim could be worth. It’s all dependant on how badly the knee is injured.
You stretch a ligament and you may have some pain and trouble walking for 6 – 12 weeks. You rupture a ligament, you’ll probably be on the operating table within a few days and you will probably be none weight baring and unable to walk without crutches for 9 – 12 weeks. So the difference is huge; especially when you take in to account all the other things it will affect, like your work life and social life. Driving would largely be a no go unless you are lucky enough to have an automatic and you damaged your left leg! Actually working without the use of one leg when you ideally should be resting and icing and elevating is really not that easy.
So, I can give you an idea based on the official guidelines that lawyers use to value claims – but ultimately your payout is going to be entirely dependent on how badly you are injured.
The guidelines say that, where recovery is complete for these sorts of moderate knee injuries, a claim is not likely to exceed £3,850.00. But for any dislocation of the knee injury that falls within the moderate category, you could be looking at a payout of up to £17,500.00 if the suffering warrants it. Severe injuries that result in long term and permanent problems can be worth up to £63,000.00.
But it is important to stress again that it is all dependant on your own personal injuries and suffering. You need a qualified medical expert to produce a report and a specialist personal injury lawyer to value the claim. People can be affected in many different ways, so it’s not wise to even use this as a guide. What you need to know and understand is that it’s all entirely circumstantial.
We are a firm of specialist personal injury lawyers with particular experience in dealing with serious and complex injuries. If you need proper advice and the best representation, call our free claims line on 0800 634 75 75 today.
